When Orwell fires the first and second shot the elephant did not hit the ground, only after the third shot did the elephant collapse. Orwell then tries to put the elephant out of its misery by firing his pistol several times, but the elephant still continued to live. 2. The first two paragraphs set the scene and tone for the readers to have a better understanding of the events that will happen. Orwell feels like an outcast rebel, he wants the Burmese to stand up against the British Empire.
Why don’t you come and be saved? Oh, Lamb of God! Why don’t you come? (180).” In “Shooting an Elephant” Orwell illustrates the peer-pressure put on him by explaining the number of people following him. He first starts by saying: “As I started forward practically the whole population of the quarter flocked out of the houses and followed me (287).” The crowd misunderstood him when he was holding the gun.
He hated his job because he worked for the government. He despises imperialism and wants to quite but has not. This essay is an account of a controversial decision he made while living there. He is called about an elephant that has gone “must” and is loose in the village. “Must” is when male elephant is sexually active and extremely violent, so it is dangerous for it to be around people.
George was a British sub-divisional police officer in the town of Lower Burma, Moulmein. George was against imperialism; he believed it was an evil thing and the sooner he got rid of his job the better. One day he was asked by the sub-inspector to take care of a crazed elephant at the other end of town. It’s unfortunate that when he got there he decided, by pressure of a group, to shoot the elephant instead of letting it live. I have been in situations such as this and, over time, I have taught myself how to not give into the complications of life.
We are left at the end wondering if shooting the elephant was really the best action for Orwell to have taken. Did shooting the elephant begin to cut his ties with the imperial force, or with his moral disposition? His ambivalence nonetheless brings out his true character and vulnerability. Furthermore, we see him as a victim, being influenced by “the army” of Burmans, although he in fact is the murderer. This alone shows us the persuasion of ambivalent tone, ironic, but true.
Society already doesn’t favor Black men so the fact that he had taken the life of a white woman put even more fear into him than any other murder he could have committed. Had Mrs. Dalton been able to see and caught Bigger in Mary’s room Mary couldve been saved. When a group of people are oppressed ne of the effects is that they become afraid of the oppressor and Bigger’s fear ultimately lead to Mary’s death. The rat that is was in the Thomas family’s apartment in
Though both characters' conflict was similar in that truly the conflict was in how each of them felt. Orwell felt conflicted in shooting the elephant because the elephant was not harming anyone. He was under pressure to do the right thing, the right thing being shooting the elephant that had already killed a man, and Orwell was a man of authority. Orwell did shoot the elephant, but Gideon, on the other hand, was conflicted on sharing his medicinal secret to those that only wanted to profit from it, yet he wanted to share his cure because it would help so many people, but he did not. The difference between Orwell's and Gideon's internal conflict was the outcome.
The mayor was offended by most of the catalogue which includes dead animals, a human statue made of blood, and, the one he found most offensive, the Virgin Mary depicted using a piece of elephant manure on a cloth. Mayor Giuliani says, ‘You do not have the right to government subsidy for desecrating somebody else’s religion. (561)’ What he means is that the government is not going to pay the museum to have this portrait stained with elephant compost in its exhibit when so many people have a strong religious belief in the Virgin Mary and see this as defiling their beliefs. With a $23 million annual budget, the museum receives close to $7 million annually in operating cost from the city. The city provides more than 30 percent of the annual cost and has set aside almost $20 million more to do work on the museum.
After a rampant elephant kills a man, Orwell is in a position where he feels he has to kill the elephant. George Orwell does not want to shoot the elephant, yet the circumstance drives him to it. If I were in his position, I would not have given in to
The Roles of Social Pressure Individuals in today's culture will face social pressures daily as it has become almost inevitable to avoid. George Orwell’s story "Shooting an Elephant" is based on an British Policeman in occupied Burma that is forced to do a job that the individual dislikes and while doing so he is faced with social pressure by the natives to shoot the elephant on the rampage. John Updike’s story "A & P" is based on three inappropriately dressed young girls entering an A & P supermarket and a young man named Sammy. Facing social pressure the character stands up for the girls as they are verbally harassed by the manager, walks off the well needed job to prove a point. These stories are reflections of the roles social pressure plays in today's culture.